UK charities team up to help fund vital pancreatic cancer research

Two leading UK medical research charities, Worldwide Cancer Research and Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund (PCRF) have joined forces to support an outstanding scientist’s work on pancreatic cancer.

Both charities have committed an equal share of £235,000 to fund a research project led by Dr Angus Cameron at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London.

Dr Cameron’s project aims to work out how to shut down the growth of tumours in pancreatic cancer. Dr Cameron and his team want to find out how normal cells in pancreatic tumours are recruited by cancer cells to support the growth and progression of the disease. This will not only give a better understanding of the biology of pancreatic cancer, but could also identify new ways to treat one of the deadliest cancers.

Dr Angus Cameron said: “Tumours aren’t just masses of cancer cells, they also contain lots of normal cells that have been recruited by the tumour to help it grow. One of these cells is known as a cancer-associated fibroblast and evidence shows that they play a critical role in the progression of cancer. We want to understand more about how these cells interact with tumour cells in pancreatic cancer.”

Dr Helen Rippon, Chief Executive of Worldwide Cancer Research, said: “Worldwide Cancer Research funds research into any cancer, anywhere in the world. The fantastic partnership we have formed with Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund means that vital progress can be made on a cancer that has such a poor outlook for patients.”

“I would like to give sincere thanks to Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund and to our generous supporters – without their dedication and support, the pioneering projects we fund simply would not happen.”

Maggie Blanks, PCRF’s founder and CEO, said:

“This is the first time PCRF has co-funded a project and we’re very happy that it allows both charities to make their supporters’ donations go further. We’re determined to fund as much research as we can to drive progress in tackling pancreatic cancer and because of this partnership, we’ve been able to increase the number of projects we can support this year.”